Hooligan Hoe Down VI The Conclusion

[Arkash]

Glade 36th, 4623

Early in the morning, so early that the fringes of the sun's light barely peeked over the horizon, Arkash sat at crouched at the foot of the watchtower. Deep, rich red covered just about every inch of him, from his cheeks and nose to the deep green fabric of his jerkin. It soaked through and cooled the warm flesh of his hairless stomach and chest to such a degree that the jute clung to him.

His breath ran ragged, labored while his hands shook. Glistening crimson in the early sun while it steadily coagulated and dried on his skin. He swallowed; palette still rich with the taste of copper while his tongue lashed at the remnants of flavor on his teeth. He shivered, a body-rocking experience that saw his eyes lid while he basked in the fleeting pleasure of satiation before, all too quickly, it was gone.

"That's the sickest thing I've ever seen in all my years of raiding and pillaging," said the Moroi, who stood nearby while Arkash steadily recovered his composure. "All of them, all fourteen of my men, bones, hair, nails, skin, clothes and all..." He continued. "You barely stopped to breathe, let alone... Where does it even go? You..." he pressed his head into the wall of the watchtower. "It's not even physically possible to fit that much food in a... Whatever the Bel you are."

"Quiet," Arkash ordered as he shakily rose to his feet, adrenaline still coursing through his veins. His fists clenched once he got there, and all the blood that matted his clothes and dripped from his features was pulled from every inch of his skin and loose thread of his attire to form a perfect sphere, which levitated above their heads. Shortly thereafter, the ball of blood funneled in a tendril that extended into his open mouth, and he drank. He swallowed hard on the last gulp and licked his lips before he pressed a hand to his flat stomach.

"I haven't eaten in weeks," he began. "For a while, I'd be struck with Mageblight every time I attacked someone. Mageblight is the accumulation of corruption in the soul, which then dilutes through the body. I wasn't sure what was happening, so I didn't run in here to kill you all outright; that much mageblight would have killed me without a doubt. I had to think smart, and produced a plan that ended with... minimal casualties... But even after I slit throats and shattered skulls, no Mageblight came. There's something else going on, I just don't know what," Arkash thought out loud. "What do you think?" He looked over his shoulder at the Moroi.

"I don't... Didn't know anything about magic before I died," said the Strigoi. "What creates corruption in the soul?"

Arkash shrugged. "Pushing yourself too hard with your magical abilities... Overstepping."

"So you're probably spending too much magic on your powers," The Strigoi reasoned. "Just stop using magic."

Arkash fell into silence, eyes staring into the sand while he considered the possibility.

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[Sola]

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Luna had taken a nap. She needed a nap to finally get her body readjusted and rested. She hadn't slept in forever so when she got up she was a little groggy. She stumbled around the camp, reaching out with her hands to help her navigate until her vision cleared up. She eventually stumbled upon Arkash and heard something about overstepping but she didn't really think any of what he said was strange. Her lack of formal magical education made it hard to grasp concepts and official terminology.

"What's going on?" She asked, "you still haven't let this guy rest yet?" She was referring to the raider.

"Fuck no. He made me stand here and watch as he ate every single one of my men." The Moroi said exasperatedly.

"He... Ate them?" Luna asked.

"YES! He's crazy. How did you get roped into joining him?"

Luna shrugged and said, "I could say that I also 'ate' them. Isn't that just as impressive?"

"Just let me die!" He shouted. If he could have cried he would have.

Luna giggled. "So, when are we getting out of here?" She directed this question to Arkash. She supposed they were waiting for his friends to arrive but it'd been a while and there was no sign of them. There was also a finite amount of food and water so they really ought to get going. At least, that was her logic. She just wanted to get back to the city as soon as possible. Sleep was nice but she needed a nice pampering.

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[Arkash]

Without any method of renewing their supply of resources, it was certain that the duo didn't want to remain within the raider's camp for much longer. On the bright side, Arkash was excellent at preserving water as he spent most of the day in his True form, then spent the night as his humanoid form for warmth. All the food within the encampment was Luna's, as Arkash had discreetly ate his fill of the raiders.

That was to say, it would have been discreet if the Moroi hadn't thrown him under the chariot at the first opportunity. Arkash furrowed his brow at the purple-skinned man, then chuckled at Luna's joke, as she didn't believe the undead. "I thought I got all the sand out of his skull, but I might have missed a spot or two." He looked the Moroi up and down, then nodded. "No, I definitely did."

When the Moroi begged for death, Arkash laughed dryly and shook his head to dismiss the plea.

"Soon," he replied to Luna with a nod. "We're just guarding the stuff until they get here with the cart," Arkash assured. "After that, we can take the chariot I fixed up to Boghadar. This guy will accompany them to the derelict," he spoke with a motion of his head to the Moroi, then paused to stare into the distance before he furrowed his brow and returned his head to an upright position.

"Do you have everything you need?" Arkash asked as he pocketed his hands. "I think we'll be out of here soon enough."

He drew a deep breath and stretched his hands over his head. His expression withdrew to something more serious when he let his arms down, brown eyes flat and cold as he looked her over. "The Strigoi's brain might be broken, but he's right. This whole experience has been crazy; I'm impressed you made it through with your mind intact," Arkash began as he folded his hands behind his back, then turned to face the woman completely. "I'm grateful for your help too, you've helped me overcome some difficulties..."

"I'm hesitant to extend this offer; there's a lot still I don't know about you, including your name." He began with a slight smile that was intended to provoke a specific response. "But you can consider me an ally. Come find me if you need someone or something taken care of, or even if you just want some training in rifle etiquette," he said with a nod at her latest acquisition. "You know where to find me."

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[Sola]

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"I presume you just want me alive so I will load up the cart. Bastard." The undead said with sass that wasn't even a little veiled.

Luna liked the guy. She was sure he was an awful creature who had done many unspeakable things, but in his current state he served mostly to entertain with his dialogue. She assumed that Arkash enjoyed the company else he would have seen the man's lips shut already.

"Yes yes, you're here for manual labor get over it," Luna said to him before turning to Arkash.

"Yup. Got me some small valuables and these two rifles. And this bag of ammunition and gunpowder. That's about all I can probably carry once I get out of the desert anyways. Plus I don't want to be walking around with a ton of stuff or I'll just be a target." She sighed, thinking about all the other stuff that was probably worth some money. She supposed Arkash would put it all to good use somehow.

When Arkash spoke again, Luna folded her arms and said, "well, assuming you don't eat me too I'm grateful to you as well. You taught me some stuff about necromancy, the badlands, rifles, and probably a half dozen things I can't recall. This venture was mutually beneficial."

She took some moments to think then continued, "yes, we can be allies. I'm sure we will meet up again after this is all over. I can't say I'm looking forward to another trip to this desert but if I am in need of more ammunition or adventure, it'll be the first place I look." She did not know how exactly they would meet again but fate had a way of figuring that all out.

"Can you two shut up? I think they're here!" Said the raider, pointing to a cloud of dust.

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[Arkash]

The woman accepted his offer, to which he smiled, then hung his head and pinched his brow. "Your name," he said. "It's all well and good that you accept but I was asking your name too. How can we be allies if I don't know what to call you?" He asked with a raise of his brow and an open hand. It was quite funny that she'd evaded sharing her name up until then, so his tone wasn't all that serious.

Then, when the Strigoi spoke up, Arkash looked at him, furrowed his brow, then looked in the direction of the referenced cloud of dust. He squinted. "No, you idiot," he said before the cloud dissipated to reveal nothing beneath. "That's just dust." He tilted his head to the side again, left ear raised with a look of intense focus about his features. "They're already here," he declared as an enormous lizard, tied and harnessed dragged its wrinkly hide around the corner of the watchtower, and scurried further along to reveal a rickety wooden cart in tow.

Upon the cart was Izzy and a small blue-skinned gnome dressed in all things leather and brass with a selection of handheld artificing tools on his belt and brass-rimmed goggles over his eyes. He appeared young in his features regardless of his stature.

The lizard's claws scraped up the sand as it came to a halt a few feet after it had passed them, then tilted its head in a nigh mechanical fashion to watch Luna and Arkash with a single beady eye.

"Ark!" Called Izzy while she spied the purple-skinned moroi. "You missed one!" She declared as she produced her pistol, and without a second to pause, shot him.

"No wait!" Arkash called too late. "He's reanimated! He's just a big dumb thrall now!" With that, he looked to the moroi, who had a sizable crater in his chest from where the ball bearing struck.

"No don't listen to him! Shoot me again!" The Moroi begged as Arkash dug the ball bearing out of his collapsed lung.

"Ha, well look at that!" She called, quite pleased with the revelation. The blue gnome leaned over the edge of the cart and vomited as Arkas began open chest surgery on the reanimated flesh construct. "Can he load up the cart then?"

Arkash nodded in response, grinned, then pat the site of the surgery once he'd finished patching up the poor man. "Yeah, then he'll help you unload it back at the Derelict too," he assured. "Do what they say," Arkash ordered the Strigoi. "If he doesn't, kill him and I'll reanimate him when I'm back," he assured, then motioned for Luna to follow him.

Izzy rose a brow at that, then shook her head before she began barking orders. "Show us where it is, ugly!" As she began to reload her pistol.

With that, Arkash led Luna to the chariot he'd prepared, then let out a hesitant, shaky sigh. "Alright, are you ready to go?" He asked as he gestured to the chariot.

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[Sola]

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Luna had avoided the topic of her name because she hadn’t decided what to say yet. Her birth name was Sola and still the name she referred to herself as in her head. However she had rebranded herself as Luna when she fled her home. She wanted to give him the former because he’d helped her more than anyone else had in the past few years… but nobody called her that anymore so it made more sense to say Luna. She just decided to say, “my friends call me Sola, but I go by Luna now. Long story. Kinda weird that my name never came up till now, I figured I told you already. Whoops.”

Arkash’s friend, or underling, whatever Izzy “was” arrived and started bossing the undead guy around. Luna said, “have fun!” and still felt bad for him. She wondered if Izzy would be able to stop him if he tried to kill her. That wasn’t Luna’s problem though and a small part of her would have loved for another revenge plot to unfold.

“Yeah, let’s get going,” she’d say to Arkash. She’d grunt under the weight that she was carrying and let out a belabored groan as she threw her weight onto the vehicle. She’d then lean back and stare up at the sky. She was ready to be gone, like yesterday.

“So are we making any surprise stops on the way, or are we gunning straight for the city? I never thought to ask how far this thing can go without being refueled,” she’d say to Arkash.

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[Arkash]

The Rath nodded to her explanation. "Sola..." he worded slowly. "I like that, it's a nice name," he assured. "Maybe you can tell me why you have an alias sometime?" he asked. "I also have a different name when I'm practicing. I go by Derek Egon when I'm in the city. So don't be a stranger if you hear I'm in town."

The other two arrived with their lizard-drawn-cart and began to pack up the Sundering kit he'd secured while Arkash made off with Sola. He offered her a seat on the chariot with a gesture of his hand while he mustered the courage to step near the thing again, then squinted as he spied something out of place. One of the plates slid at the addition of Sola's weight.

"Wait..." Arkash began and held up a claw. "No, no surprise stops, just straight to Boghadar... But I think I forgot something when I put this thing back together," he says as he steps closer, then kneels at the foot of the contraption. Using his finger, he felt long the hole where a bolt should have otherwise been screwed. "Agh..." he sighed exasperatedly. "Yeah, I left a bolt. Can you hop off a sec?" He asked as he stood up. "I'll go check their supplies real quick, just hold tight," he assured, then broke into a light run in the other direction.

A quick rummage through the heaps of scrap Arkash had accumulated when he dismantled the other two chariots yielded bolts of many sizes, but none of the correct depth. He bared his teeth in a cringe as he dug, then blinked as a thought struck. Quickly, he abandoned the heaps of scrap and ran off to Izzy and Bants.

"Bants!" he called as the small blue fellow took inventory in a small notepad with some sort of mechanical writing device.

"Huh?" He asked, then looked over his shoulder at the running Arkash. "Yeah? What's up?"

"The thing you used to fix those chains to the ceiling, in the derelict," he began.

"The Socket Binder?"

"Yes!" Arkash snapped his fingers. "I need to borrow it."

Bants furrowed his brow. "Why?"

Arkash rubbed at his eyes with one hand. "I lost one of the bolts that holds the body of the chariot to the chasis... I need to fix it together or..." he shrugged with an uncertain grimace; they both knew their seating would be ripped off if they got it fast enough.

Bants blinked in surprise. "How did you...? Did you...? Never mind, not important. I'll come fix it for you."

Arkash crossed his arms as the half-gnome climbed off the cart. "I can do it myself," he assured.

"It's an artificing tool, Ark. You haven't been trained yet and who knows what could happen if you tried."

The Rath sighed, then nodded. "Fine, but let's hurry."

With that, he rushed off with the tiny blue one in tow. When he arrived at the chariot, he offered a brief wave to the woman before he bowed his head. "Sola, this is Bants," he gestured behind him as the half-gnome half-jogged through the sand, winded. "He's our Artificing and Fragmenting expert, he's got a tool we can use as a workaround for the missing bolt, so we'll be on our way in no time at all," he assured, then turned to watch as the little Druskai caught up.

"I'm alright!" he assured as he bent over to catch his breath. "This is like... Twice as far for me...! As it is for you...! Ark...!" he called between his labored breaths.

"Any day now," Arkash assured with a nod.

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[Sola]

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Luna absent mindedly listened to Arkash bitch about the chariot again. She would have thought that it'd be ready to go by now, what with all the time he spent on it. He seemed likewise annoyed with the situation. She resisted the urge to give him a bombastic side eye as he interacted with the one he called Bants. She was entirely uninterested until the words Artificing and Fragmenting came up.

Luna turned her head and her expression changed from mild annoyance to curious. "Between the lot of you, you certainly know quite a bit of magic," she said to Arkash. She knew basically nothing about those two fields but she presumed they were valuable skills to know. If they were anything like necromancy, they were probably expensive to learn as well.

When Bants finally made it over, Luna hopped down and watched what he ended up doing with his tool. She'd say, regardless of what he ended up doing, "this looks pretty complicated. You must be talented if you can do something Arkash can't. What would it take for ya to teach me a thing or two sometime? I've got money, or if there's other things ya got an interest in, perhaps we can help each other."

She couldn't believe she was basically flirting with someone so tiny but it was basically second nature when she wanted something out of someone. She figured the worst he could say was no, and perhaps make fun of her, and she could live with that.

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[Arkash]

"Yeah," Arkash nodded in agreement. "Not too sure what Fragmenting is, but Izzy back there is our expert in Sundering, and I'm the... Well, you already know I'm in deep with Necromancy." He grinned a little awkwardly, she hadn't tried to hide her annoyance before he ran off in search of a bolt after all. "Necromancy is the art of sculpting flesh and reanimating the dead, Sundering is the art of harnessing the power of mages and strickening it to objects, Artificing is the animation of objects and Fragmenting... Something to do with rocks."

He stopped his explanation as Bants caught up with the pair. The stout blue man leaned against the chariot for support while he caught his breath. "Thanks for coming, Bants. We would have been in trouble if it weren't for you."

"Yeah, no problem," he said with a grin before he knelt in the sand and produced a silver wrench of intricate design from his belt. As Luna jumped off the machine, he scoured the chasis before he nodded and closed the two surfaces between the teeth of the wrench and clamped them together. "There," he said with another nod of affirmation.

The half-gnome had just began to stand up when he came face-to-face with Luna, and widened his dark eyes considerably. "O-oh, well..." he began.

"Whaddya mean? I can totally do that!" Arkash interjected, defensively.

"No, you can't," Bants corrected with a shake of his head, and brushed at his cheeks in an effort to hide the dusting of purple that stirred with the woman's advance. "Uh, no payment necessary Milady, I'm not the best artificer but I can show you what I know any time you like?" he rubbed the back of his head with something of a shy smile.

Arkash crossed his arms, foot tapping the sand impatiently. "Okay! Thanks Bants! We're good to go now!" He spoke with emphasis, words that carried another meaning which the small blue one seemed to read.

"Oh right!" he said quickly with recognition in his eyes. "Sorry, I'm just so stoked. Thank you so much for this, Ark!" He said as he turned away, then began to run toward the cart again. "They really got what they deserved!" He yelled back before he continued his escape.

The 'guised Rath smiled a little at his gratitude, then nodded before he tested that same plate, and found that it had been bound together as though a bolt had been fixed to that same place. There was no adhesive or any nails to speak of, but the metal was firmly fastened together. "He's a good kid," Arkash assured. "I asked for lessons first though, so get in line," he spoke, half joking as he climbed atop the chariot. With a twist of the key, the engine kicked three times then the ignition hit. A plume of black smoke billowed from the exhaust as it began to burn the Wurmblood fuel. "Get on," he said with a motion of his head. "Next stop, Boghadar."

Whenever she was on the chariot, Arkash would step on the gas pedal and the machine's engine would roar, but it did not move. Arkash stared in confusion, then released the emergency brake before he pressed the gas pedal again, and threw them both forward at an extremely sudden, very fast speed. "Sorry! Hold on tight!" He warned as he pressed the pedal a little more gently and began to pick up speed toward Greater Daravin.

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[Sola]

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With an air of grace, Luna bestowed a warm, radiant smile upon the small being, assuring him, "Nonsense, my dear, I shall find an appropriate means to express my gratitude." She didn't know how old the creature was or how his anatomy worked but she was sure she could figure all that out given enough time.

Regrettably, their exchange was destined to be short-lived. Luna sensed an underlying urgency in Arkash's demeanor as he hastened their departure. She couldn't help but speculate if there were hidden factors at play, contributing to his impatience. Nevertheless, she opted to dismiss her suspicions for the time being. "Farewell," she said to Bants with a dazzling smile she hoped would linger in his memory. She did have a way of lingering in the minds of men.

Upon boarding the chariot, Luna cast a sly smirk towards Arkash, remarking, "Oh, is that so?" She might have been tempted to challenge them if they had been closer. However she needed to get going to the city more than she needed a teacher. She'd leave it at that and say, "let's get going then!"

For a brief moment, the chariot remained motionless, tension mounting in the air. Suddenly, it lurched forward with such incredible velocity that Luna found herself clinging tightly to her belongings. Had she not been preoccupied with securing her precious cargo, her newly acquired treasures would have undoubtedly scattered across the sun-kissed sand. Caught off guard, she couldn't suppress an exhilarated cry of "AHHHHHH!" as the vehicle sped into the horizon.

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